Most of us are still living (and thinking) in two dimensions -- length and width.  But why limit yourself to just expanding into the horizon?
Something about using vertical space has suddenly become attractive to me. I'm not sure why. Yet its lure is virtually irresistible.

The idea first came to me trying to solve the dilemma of having enough space to house my art in process and my files. Having recently downsized my living space and then having someone else move into my space, where was this stuff to go? I'm all for clearing out the no-longer-useful stuff but what if you still are using it? Where can I keep it without having boxes everywhere?

Go into another dimension?

Hell, Yes!! Something on googleimages caught my eye while looking for an item entirely unrelated to furniture. I saw an ad for IKEA about space saving in a NY apartment. They were using vertical space. Perfect!

Having the general solution, does not always translate into the specific remedy immediately however. This takes some thought. I could raise my queen sized bed. But how high? And how do I build it when I'm sleeping in it each night? Simple enough solutions, I guess.

I have bookcases on the one side of the bed. What if I turned them sideways? Then I would simply have to figure out how to support the rest of the bed.

Still puzzling it out, so stay tuned.

Amazing links though on how people are solving space problems in their smaller (more eco-friendly) yet beautiful and functional spaces. Check them out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wBnMVwsFS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqPAsOpGrLA

If you (or I) were am alien assigned to the hind end of space - the Earth Surveillance Mission, what kind of reports woulud you send back?  Do you think the notes would be of a glowing nature?  
I doubt it too.

Zeta Reticuli (Greys) as pictured by an artist.

We like to think of ourselves as being at the top of our game as a society but it is very unlikely the aliens would think so. Advanced technology does not guarantee an advanced society yet in all liklihood, these aliens have a very different and a more advanced society than ours.  We, as a society, have grappled unsuccessfully with all of our major problems for the last hundred years.  This is due in part to greed on the part of some stakeholders.  We, as a species, act in an aggressive and openly hostile manner toward others on the planet and any species, which we feel does not serve us.  We allow food to go bad while there are those among us who go hungry.  We work, often unhappily, for others, rather than pursuing our dreams.  We allow ourselves to be driven by fear and anger, comparing ourselves with others and with the programming we receive through media.  We eat non-nutritious food, drink chemical laden water, and poison ourselves with alcohol, tobacco, caffeine or sugar, among other things. We abandon our young to others at a tender age and spend very little time with them.  We spend hours diverting ourselves from inconvenient truths, involving ourselves in things, which bring us no lasting benefit.  We spend and act as though we needed to leave nothing to our children. Increasingly, our leaders are taking more than their share of our tax money, while underrepresenting us and instead representing those who contribute more money to them.  We are destroying our own habitat.
Commander,
Today I observed a small child, who was fascinated with a pool of water at the park.  It had recently stopped raining and the child, wearing yellow footwear was stepping in the puddles and smiling.  His parent was communicating on her cellular device and only paying token attention to the youngster.  As she walked slowly around, her silken scarf had fallen onto the ground.  The child noticed and picked it up, offering it to his mother, who was too engrossed in her conversation to attend to him.  After waiting a moment he took the scarf back to the small pool of water and began to trail it into the water  At first he only dipped a small portion in but increasingly he dipped more, always looking back at his mother to see if she were watching.  At last he had it full in the water and the colours, which must not have been fast, were spreading from the scarf out into the pool.  The child was delighted and ran to his mother, who had just ended her conversation.  She reached for her scarf but not finding it looked around, only to see the child gesticulating and saying "Pretty!".  She flew into a rage, berating the child for getting her scarf all dirty and calling him a "bad boy".  The child was at first confused and then he began to cry.  The mother grabbed the boy up roughly and left the park, muttering insults and threats to the crying child.
I realize that I am only supposed to represent facts/observations in these reports, Commander, yet I feel compelled to make commentary here.  Before this mission, I could not understand why we had not disclosed our presence to the Earthlings.  Having seen first hand how cruel they can be even within their own tribes, I fully understand the reluctance of the Guardianship to proceed with public overtures to Earthlings.  They do not truly understand love or friendship for the most part.  There may be exceptions to this rule but they are not the majority.  We would be in grave danger of being destroyed if we were to officially make our presence known.  This is a most backward species.
Sincerely,
Ranu-El
Observer, Class I, Earth Observation Mission


It's not that there isn't perhaps life on other planets.  It's that, given the state of things, why would they come here and talk to us?

“Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity.”
- NIKOLA TESLA     
How has our science succeeded in procuring the betterment of humanity?  Or are we only focused on the advancement of war technologies?  Or perhaps our focus is on technologies for distraction and amusement of the masses so that they will not watch what is happening to the planet for the enrichment of the very few?  

I| had a natural proclivity for science when I was younger but always felt that scientists became pawns of the military and not wanting that kind of karma, I refused that avenue for my life.  It has since come to light that science, like many other disciplines is a very rigidly controlled discipline.  Free energy machines are gobbled up by the military lest they see the light of day and people become free of the heavy yoke of paying for their energy.  
Nikola Tesla found that energy was freely available and wanted his discovery to better the lives of all  He is not mentioned in the history books.  But Thomas Edison is.  He helped George Westinghouse grid and hook up electricity to a paying system - that is one where we pay and they get the benefits of our money for receiving energy, which Tesla's invention would have seen us have for free.  Both Tesla and Edison were later awarded the Nobel Prize.  Neither accepted.  Tesla at the time no doubt had seen the corruption and as his autobiography states was revolted by the corruption and greed which took inventions he would have offered to mankind and made them benefit a select few.  And Edison - A guilty consionce perhaps?  
One wonders how anyone with a conscience could be a scientist anymore.  How did Einstein sleep at night after realizing that it was his discoveries which had as a consequence all the carnage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  He was a pacifist.  Yet look what happened as a result of his invention.  One could rationalize that if it were not him it would have been someone else  Yet the above quote by Tesla still rings in my ears and I am grateful that as a teenager I had the wisdom to forgo science as an option.  Like everyone, I have made my share of mistakes in this life but my inventions have killed no one.  And had I pursued science - I might not be able to say that.
This does not mean that scientists would ever intentionally set out to do this.  No doubt the discovery of something like high fructose corn syrup was not meant for anything sinister.  Yet it is not able to be metabolized by the human liver (it turns to ethanol when digested) and it is destructive to the body.  Did the person who discovered it foresee that some companies would put it into food and drink and feed it to the people?  Are they responsible for what the end result is?  Yes, like all of us, they are responsible for their actions and the reactions of their actions - the ripple from the stone they threw into the lake, if you will.  
As a society, we do not seem to understand the scope of what we do.  We seem to be as a society,without the ability to see the outcome - the future result- of our actions.  Like a teenager, without the total frontal lobe development, we blunder along without even bothering to think what each new development might mean to future generations.  It is almost as though we think it will be their problem and not ours.  
What if we are wrong?
This short-term gain is all that matters viewpoint, I believe, comes from our belief that we only live once.  It is a Western peculiarity to believe this.  And there is growing evidence that it is a faulty belief.  Let us for sake of argument, enter into a mindset that would allow for the idea that reincarnation is real and operating in the world, now what does it look like to pollute and /or to waste resources?  When it is you (in another body) that will have to come back and clean up or live through the toxicity you yourself created for others,  would there be more motivation to find alternate ways of doing things?  
It takes just a small shift to see why we need to seriously consider what we are going to do with that product before we buy it.  Will it add to our quality of life?  And if not, why are we buying it?
There are scientists who are breaking with the establishment and seeking a better way.  These people deserve kudos.  Academia does not take kindly to  those who do not tow the party line.  So they are brave indeed.  There is hope that we may yet get to Tesla's quote being the norm for invention  Maybe not today, or tomorrow but we may yet get there.

In honour of Thanksgiving - despite the daftness of only giving thanks one day of the year for the harvest we enjoy so freely here in the west - I am gifting this poem.
I find it regrettable that so many get hijacked by the fear-mongering tactics of the media with regard to this e-bola thing.  Fear puts you in the vibration where sickness can assail you.  Stay out of fear.  Don't let it rest in your mind and don't go around stirring up fear in others.  Get enough sleep.  Meditate and keep your vibration high (gratitude, love, joy, peace) and not low (fear, worry, anger, sadness) and eat NO or very little processed food.  If you think your immune system is sluggish due to not looking after yourself properly - take Beta Glucans (like echiniciae but better) Vitamins C, D, B12 and minerals, especially zinc.  Beta Glucans is what the U.S. stocks for their crack troops and at every nuclear power station in case of an outbreak by the way.  Eat food as fresh as you possiblouty can - everyone can eat fresh sprouts.  Don't forget, even the plague had survivors!  If it is what they say, be prepared.  If it isn't, you won't have wasted time worrying about it.  
Anyway my conversations with those who are "trapped in the matrix" and accepting the suggestions put forth by the media and the medical professions (who, driven by big Pharma stand to make billions off the sales if there is an outbreak) gave rise to this poem.

The Phoenix

We near the end of a graceless age.
Delusion abounds as many rage,
While others, apathetic, trace 
The outline of the human race,
As we've been taught.
It is for naught.

For, if we really want to look, we see.  
And the overwhelming reality is why we,
The many, choose delusion,
Rather than abide in fear, anger, oonfusion.

It is easy to get lost 
In their dire outlook, yet the cost
Is the usual:  Your honour, joy, and sanity
The wager:  Evolution of humanity.

There are forces that wish that we,
The many, perish quickly,
As they know about the coming change
Which will disrupt their reign and rearrange
The world as we know it


Yet before that change takes place
They fear coming face to face 
With the truth they thought they could misplace
Lies have been told
Lies that are new and lies that are old
Lies that have corrupted these people's souls
Making their hearts hard and cold

Leaving us yearning for another way
Tired of just getting through the day
The Phoenix legend begins to play
In my mind and  a better way 
Like an allegory is forming...

Mythical creature long-lived, now dying.
From the ashes something is trying 
To be born.
 
Like the Phoenix we can see
That this unjust, sick society
Teeters on the brink of doom
Just as in the gathering gloom
New modalities of life show through.

Transcendance of this buy-and-sell,
Dog-eat-dog living hell,
Where precious people are treated as commodities
Not given a full share in Nature's bounty
It has been usurped by those whose duty
It is to care for our well-being

The coming change will take us away
Away to the place the heart knows well.
Where shining light abides
And darkness cannot hide
Where equality is truth and beauty lifts the spirit inside


There crystal clarity wisdom leads
Colours only seen in dreams
Flow from the ashes of the known
And paint vivid joy in our new home

Fear not!  Despite all appearance
And reports of frightening happenstance
 We are on our way to that home!
Know that!  Take heart! You are not alone.

The following is an article by Nick Brannigan which was printed in The Natural News.  It is easy to get caught up in a cause.  Humans want to help others - it is our nature.  It riles me when corporations and greedy people behind associations take advantage of the best of human nature and prey on the sick with misinformation and lies, while scamming them and taking their hard-earned money.  And so...read on:
By Nick Brannigan

Posted Monday, August 25, 2014 at 05:30pm EDT

Keywords: als, animal testing, ice bucket challenge, lou gehrig's disease


There really hasn’t been anything that has gone more viral across social media this year than the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  When one is nominated to take the challenge, they have 24 hours to comply by dumping a bucket of cold ice water on their head or donate money to The ALS Association.  Celebreties, and other well known public figures, such as Bill Gates, Justin Beiber, LeBron James, Robert Downey Jr, and George W. Bush have taken the challenge.  The purpose of pooring ice water over your head is to temporarily feel the effects that a person with ALS might feel.  As of this writing, over $62 million in donations have been raised.

What is ALS?  I’m glad you asked because a lot of the participants in the Ice Bucket Challenge have no idea.  From ALS.org: “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.”

They go on to claim there is no cure and no treatments that can reverse the symptoms.  To me, this should be quite significant admission for one considering to donate their hard earned cash to this organziation.  But, there are other reasons one would choose to boycott the Ice Bucket Challenge and not donate to The ALS Association.

The ALS Association conducts cruel animal research.

Former Baywatch star and animal rights activists, Pamela Anderson has publicly brought to light the cruel animal testing experiments funded by The ALS Association: “Recent experiments funded by the ALS Association, mice had holes drilled into their skulls, were inflicted with crippling illnesses, and were forced to run on an inclined treadmill until they collapsed from exhaustion. Monkeys had chemicals injected into their brains and backs and were later killed and dissected.”  She goes on to point out that a whopping 92% of drugs that succeed in animal trials fail to have the same effect when used by humans.

The ALSA promotes a highly acidic diet with lots of sugar.

In the ALSA’s guide titled Maintaining good nutrition with ALS, they recommend lots of meat, fish, milk, cheese, bread and sugar.  The idea behind this is that people with ALS need lots of calories to maintain their weight which is supposed to help slow the progession of the symptoms. The flaw behind this thinking is that all calories are not created equal.  Just as all carbohydrates, fats and proteins are not created equal.  Most animal products, especially those that are not organic or from a 100% grass fed source, are amongst the most highly carcinegenic foods available.  Processed breads and refined sugars come with a laundry list of issues that contribute to poor health.  Eating these foods couldn’t possibly be beneficial to people suffering from ALS.

In an articles titled, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy is the Motto in ALS, the author talks about the importance of nutrition then goes on to recommend a pre-packaged shake which primary ingredients all come from genetically modified sources.  A recipe is then offered using peanut butter, chocolate syrup, milk and two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

ALS has been cured naturally.

Dr. Craig Oster is currently raising funding to create a documentary about the lives of people diagnosed with ALS and are healing or have healed.  These ALS survivors all went on to live quality lives, well beyond the two to five year death sentence, primarily through proper nutrition, detoxification and holistic medicine.  They have regained motor skills, increased muscle mass and reversed other symptons of ALS, in contrary to the mainstream medical systems implications that this is not possible.

If you truly want to help people with ALS, you can do the following:

1. Donate to Dr. Craig’s documentary film to spread awareness on ALS survivors.

2. Contact The ALS Association and condemn them about their awful dietary guidelines and policies on animal research.

3. Do your own research on this topic and talk to your friends and family about it.

4. Eat a diet consisting of mostly organic, unrefined, plant based foods.

5. Continue to support alternative health and wellness websites, blogs, podcasts, etc.

Sources:

http://ecovegangal.com/act/item/1258-is-the-ice-bucket-challenge-doing-more-harm-than-good

http://www.naturalnews.com/032380_Lou_Gehrigs_disease_sugar.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Bucket_Challenge

http://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-challenge-082314.html

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/08/23/pam-anderson-criticizes-als-ice-bucket-challenge/

http://www.alsa.org/assets/pdfs/brochures/nutrition.pdf

http://alsn.mda.org/article/eat-drink-and-be-healthy-motto-als

http://ensure.com/products/ensure-plus-retail

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/healing-als-mnd-lou-gehrig-s-disease

I have recently come across the work of Dr. David Hawkins through Mindvalley and a webinar by Christie Marie Sheldon. It is interesting reading and food for thought. He has used muscle testing, which is quite reliable, to calibrate this scale, which he explains in his books.

I disagree with some of Dr. Hawkin's philosophical tenets. He is quite dualistic – good/evil, truth/falsehood – and thereby judgmental in his terminology. I prefer to see it simply as levels of evolution or “involution” and therefore without judgment. With regard to different levels of consciousness, he states that when one has learned the “lessons” inherent in a level of consciousness and fulfilled any karma owing, one changes to the next highest level. He does state a phenomena, which I have also observed – that immediately upon moving into a higher level of consciousness one tends to meet with the negative aspects of that level first. If one can meet and move past the challenge of the negative aspects on that level (just like on a video game) one reaps the rewards of the higher level. If not one stays at the negative aspects of the level. He comments also that he sees this as the working out of karma accumulated at that level in a previous lifetime.

I believe, and this may in fact, not be in conflict with Hawkins, that our “involution” through levels of consciousness is a natural process. This process does not proceed, at least traditionally, very quickly. Whether there is more “light” available now for the “enlightenment” process, as some claim, I do not know but people do appear to be more intentionally working on becoming positive than before. It is my contention that whereas near the lowest levels of consciousness there is little understanding or even interest in becoming more enlightened, the further up the scale one progresses, the more motivation arises to keep going and therefore the ascent in consciousness takes on a more rapid progression.

The one point where I differ greatly with Hawkins is his stand on traditional religious Christianity. I have read the texts, both church condoned and apocryphal and I can not believe from the words which have come down to us as attributed to Jeshua (the Christ) that he believed that we could not attain what he had - “Greater things than this shall you also do.” The proviso - “If you believe.” Hawkins believes the Church doctrine about us needing a saviour. A great teacher is a boon to be sure. But as we all have that spark of the infinite within, “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you”, if we “seek” there, we will “find”. Anyway his tables are food for thought and worth checking out his youtube stuff. He is a bit longwinded but he is somewhat amusing, which is rare for a PhD


LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS:  TRUTH/FALSEHOOD


Headings:
God-view     Self-view        Level                  Log            Emotion        Process


LEVELS OF TRUTH
Self                   Is            Enlightenment        700 – 1,000        Ineffable           Pure Consciousness

All-being     Perfect             Peace                        600               Bliss                  Illumination

One           Complete           Joy                              540               Serenity            Transfiguration

Loving       Benign               Love                           500               Reverence         Revelation

Wise          Meaningful        Reason                       400               Understanding  Abstraction

Merciful     Harmonious     Acceptance               350                Forgiveness       Transcendence

Inspiring    Hopeful            Willingness                310                 Optimism           Intention

Enabling    Satisfactory     Neutrality                  250                 Trust                   Release

Permitting  Feasible          Courage                     200                 Affirmation         Empowerment


LEVELS OF FALSEHOOD

Indifferent    Demanding       Pride                        175                  Scorn                  Inflation

Vengeful     Antagonistic       Anger                       150                  Hate                   Aggression

Denying      Disappointing     Desire                      125                  Craving               Enslavement

Punitive       Frightening        Fear                        100                  Anxiety               Withdrawal

Uncaring     Tragic                  Grief                          75                  Regret                Despondency

Condem-     Hopeless             Apathy, hatred        50                  Despair               Abdication
ning

Vindictive     Evil                    Guilt                           30                   Blame                Destruction

Despising    Hateful               Shame                         20                   Humiliation        Elimination



Building on the above, Dr. Hawkins sees the Lower Mind below 200 generally but here 155 is given, as having certain attitudes, he would even say a substantially different existence than the Higher Mind.  I would subdivide it further.  The Lower Mind (occupied with negative thoughts <200)
The Rational Mind  (Logical/linear seeking cause/effect 200 - 490)
The Heart/Mind (Compassionate/creative) 500 - 600)
The Spiritual (Dedicated to the good of humanity /spiritual development >600)
Abraham Maslow once commented about his Heirarchy of Needs that there might in fact be more needs at a higher level but that he was not able to discern them. You are only able to see your own level and the levels below yours.  The higher levels remain hidden to you in detail, even if you may be dimly aware of their existence.  
The Table 1 below is Hawkins' original list of attitudinal difference between the Lower and Higher Mind.

Table 1: Function of Mind – Attitudes

Lower Mind (cal. 155)            Higher Mind (cal. 275)

Accumulation                                       Growth
Acquire                                                  Savour
Remember                                             Reflect
Maintain                                                Evolve
Think                                                      Process
Denotation                                             Inference
Time = restriction                                Time = opportunity
Focus on present/past                          Focus on present/future
Ruled by emotions/wants                    Ruled by reason/inspiration
Blames                                                   Takes responsibility
Careless                                                  Disciplined
Content (Specifics)                               Content plus field (conditions)
Concrete, literal                                     Abstract, imaginative
Limited, time, space                             Unlimited
Personal                                                  Impersonal
Form                                                       Significance
Focus on specifics                                 Generalities
Exclusive examples                               Categorize class – inclusive
Reactive                                                 Detached
Passive/aggressive                                Protective
Recall events                                          Contextualize significance
Plan                                                        Create
Definition                                               Essence, meaningful
Particularize                                          Generalize
Pedestrian                                             Transcendent
Motivation                                             Inspirational, intention
Morals                                                    Ethics
Examples                                               Principles
Physical and  Emotional survival        Intellectual development
Pleasure and satisfaction                     Fulfillment of potential

Table 2:  Function of Mind – Attitudes

Impatient                                                Tolerant
Demand                                                   Prefer
Desire                                                      Value
Upset, tension                                         Calm, deliberate
Control                                                     Let go, surrender
Utilitarian use                                         Sees potential
Literal                                                       Intuitive
Ego-self directed                                     Ego, plus other-oriented
Personal & family survival                     Survival of others
Constrictive                                             Expansive
Exploit, use up                                        Preserve, enhance
Design                                                      Art
Competition                                            Cooperation
Pretty, attractive                                    Aesthetics
Naive, impressionable                            Sophisticated, informed
Guilt                                                         Regret
Gullible                                                    Thoughtful
Pessimist                                                 Optimist
Excess                                                      Balance
Force                                                        Power
Smart, clever                                           Intelligent
Exploits life                                             Serves life
Callous                                                     Merciful
Insensitive                                               Sensitive
Particularize                                           Contextualize
Statement                                                Hypothesis
Closure                                                     Open-ended
Terminal                                                  Germinal
Sympathize                                              Empathize
Rate                                                           Evaluate
Want                                                         Choose
Avoid                                                         Face and accept
Childish                                                     Mature
Attacks                                                      Avoids
Critical                                                      Accepting
Condemning                                             Forgiving
Skepticism                                                Comprehend

Yearning for some unknown more
Listlessly turning about the normal pole
Hiding behind and living a role
Watching others and keeping score
Safety is deadly for the soul.
Change and a lack of security 
Is frightening but enlightening.

Growth is a legacy yet extracts a toll,
Growing toward an integrated whole
Requires letting go of society's expectations
Being seen as an aberration, weird, too strange...
Others will demand that you re-arrange.

Don't go back! 
Life is always forward!
Step out of the shadows.
Step into the light,
As sure as the sun rises after the night
and the seed that was buried, seeks daylight,
Risk equals growth and life.

So risk!  

Canadian Racisim?

Here’s the side of our heritage

That we would rather hide.

Canadian’s pride often resides

In playing “nice”.   Everybody loves us

Because we are “tolerant” not “racist” like

Our neighbours to the south.

But does that bear a closer look?

In a word – “No”.

This blog says it all,

If it makes your feel small

Or makes your anger tall,

Then there is resonance for you.

Be truthful.  Especially with yourself.

Don’t distance and deny an attitude

That can’t be hidden.


Let’s really look at what happened.
  The truth is simple:

1.  There were millions of people living here when the explorers came from Europe.
These people had a wonderful relationship with the Earth,
They had excellent social structures and a culture that was honourable.  Far more honourable than the European one, which supplanted it.  They valued tradition, family, the heart, the spirit, and especially the Earth.

2.  Our ancestors came looking for a way to make money. They valued money, status, religion, and mental intelligence.  They were not well connected with the Earth and they believed that they had to fight and kill to survive.  They were not interested in co-operating or co-existing.
They took the gifts the people offered them in friendship.  But they weren’t interested in having new friends, so they didn’t stop there.  They took their land, a little here and a little there.  Still the people had pity on them and helped cure them when they were ill.  But possessed by the greediness that drove them, our ancestors formed companies and urged the people to kill more animals than they needed to, and lured them unsuspecting, into the poisons of capitalism and alcohol.  Like a horrid infestation, our ancestors stamped their way of life onto the land, not interested in working with Nature.  They used germ warfare and killed many of the people with smallpox.

3.  When they had them down to a safe number.  They decided they needed to break their way of life and not just  disrupt it.  They forced the people onto reservations, which no longer allowed the men to hunt as they always had.  This demoralized the men.  Yet the women were the backbone of the Aboriginal society and they were still strong.  So our ancestors did something so dastardly, I rage as I repeat it here.

They passed a law requiring the children to be removed from the people for ten months of the year.  They gave the children to the Catholic Church and fed them poorly.  Some children died.  Others were abused.  But all suffered terribly from the loss of their families.  This demoralized the women and disrupted the families and the natural passage of the culture.

At the schools the children were forbidden to speak their language.  They were given non-nutritious food and bribed with candy.  They were beaten into submission.  They were not allowed their heritage.

Our ancestors did it to assimilate (destroy) the Aboriginal culture.

But in this world, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  

So now, the media and video games have taken our children from us.  We feel powerless to stop this.  Our original culture is being usurped by Hollywood and television.  Our families are disrupted.  School takes our children for ten months of the year and few of us can homeschool because of financial pressures.  Many of us are on drugs for depression.  Many of us are ill.  Many others feel the need to drown the sorrows of their lives in alcohol.  Our food supply has become ever more questionable.  We are often more isolated than ever despite technology that should bring us together.  Religion is failing us in many regards, due to all the scandals we know about. 

In light of what happened to the Aboriginals, it does seem like poetic justice, doesn’t it?  What was that verse?  Oh yeah, the sins of the father are visited on the sons unto the third generation.  Some might say – what goes around comes around.

But it does seem like – what we dished out to them is coming back to us now.  How to stop it? 

Be honest.  Are you racist?  We all learned the history from the conqueror’s point of view in school.  Take another look – find out the truth.  And then take a good hard look at your reactions to the media reports on anything about Aboriginals or more importantly to the Aboriginals in your daily life. 

Look into what the Residential Schools were and ask yourself – what if that were my family, my child?  How would that affect me?  What would my family life be like after that?  Would I be angry?  Would I want some redress?  What would it take to make something like that right? 

Then read this article: 

a halfbreed`s reasoning



Not All Classrooms Are Created EqualPosted on January 21, 2014 by SAMANTHANOCK

Through the years I’ve developed a thick skin; I have gotten used to snide remarks by teachers about my “special Aboriginal status”, and rude remarks from my peers about my free school and “special yearly Native cheques” the government apparently gives me because I’m Native.

The government is about 22 years behind in payments. 

There are few things I hear that surprise me or ever really hurt me, like they used to.  I’ve spent too many of my few years on this earth angry, hurt, and sad because of the words of racists… but every now and then, there will be something that is like a slap in the face: something will happen that usurps my outward shell.  Today was one of those days.

It was not so much bigoted words uttered, but instead a simple knee jerk reaction from a classmate.  I was giving a presentation in a class and had brought up Indigenous protest to the topic at hand… and there it was: this kid rolled his eyes.  It wasn’t a subtle, maybe-there’s-an-eyelash-in-there roll, it was a straight up dramatic, get-this-kid-an-Oscar-because his acting is on point, eye roll.  

My first reaction to my peers eye roll was to launch across the table and show him just what 500 years of colonization feels like … but instead I just let it go in that moment and left the class personally flustered, frustrated, and kind of empty: this is the reality of being an Indigenous student in academia.  I am privileged in many spaces because of how pale my father’s genetics made me, but it doesn’t negate the experiences I have had and the experiences my fellow Indigenous peers have in the classroom everyday. 

For the most part, due to my degree in First Nations Studies, most of my classes are safe spaces: they are spaces where we as Aboriginal students can freely learn and be without the pressures of bigoted peers or hostile professors.  But when we leave these spaces and enter our elective courses, minor requirements, or if we are not graced with being in Native Studies, we enter classrooms that sometimes feel like battlefields.  I know when I enter a classroom that doesn’t hold my usual cohort of FNSP peers or members of the UBC Aboriginal community as a whole, the space is unsafe.  I know, that at any point, something can be said or done that will make my heart hurt.  I have left classes feeling sick to my stomach because of the things that have left my peer’s or my professor’s mouths.

This isn’t a experience that is dedicated strictly to university, these feelings have existed since elementary school.  I have a plethora, as I am sure many of my Indigenous peers do as well, of anecdotes of racism from kindergarten to bachelors degree and beyond. This is not about pointing fingers at specific individuals or UBC, but there’s some cliché about snowflakes and avalanches that cements this feeling.  When you are Aboriginal and you enter a classroom, and the topic of Indigenous peoples arises, there’s a surge of adrenaline because you’re bracing yourself for the worst: you’re bracing yourself to hear the same colonial stories that have been playing out since Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Frankly, I’m sick of being poised and patient: I want action by my professors and non-Native peers to call out our fellow comrades in the classroom when oppressive situations begin to arise, because I’m exhausted.  I’m exhausted of leaving the classroom feeling like the only voice shouting, I’m exhausted from coming home feeling anger in the pit of my stomach, and I’m exhausted from having to shoulder the responsibility to try and teach every person who doesn’t take the time to educate themselves.  

This is my reply:

 So sorry to read about the bigotry that I am aware exists. Thanks for your bravery!   There is much denial in academia,  who would say that Canada is a non-racist environment.  This is not true.  Yet most Canadians would pat themselves on the back for being "tolerant" and sneer at Americans as being "racist".  Yet when it comes to the Aboriginals, we are blind to our own racist attitudes.  Ironic?
Some of that no doubt comes from the fact that our ancestors did dispossess your ancestors.  Maybe at some level we are afraid that there is no real way to acknowledge that, without wondering if that means that we need to leave in order to redress it. I think we can't as a nation or as individuals, deal with that.  Far easier to try to discredit or minimize your pain.  Not okay but likely it is the psychological undercurrent. But the truth is that no one wins when one segment of the society is treated badly.  In Canada, as in the rest of the planet, we need to begin to create win:win situations, not perpetuate a system that is bringing us to the brink of disaster as a species and despair as individuals.
History needs to be taught truthfully, not from the standpoint of how wonderful the Caucasian race is and how primitive everyone else is.  We seriously need the help of those who are closer to the Earth to save us from the mess we have created.  We need to get the truth out there and people need to wake up and realize what they are really doing with their reactions and how hateful their attitudes are.
Everyone deserves love, acceptance (not just tolerance), and freedom to  be who they are.  We need the talents of all to help us find our way back to a sustainable future and a compassionate world.

Just watched an amazing interview on on Gaiam TV with Bill Stierle.  He was talking about his work as a mediator and presenter using this "Whole Brain" system.  It is definitely worth looking into and although the interview was quite informative and he definitely knows his stuff, he is not the only one out there presenting this information.  
Basically it is about preferred modes of expression and understanding and it is quite useful in understanding both self and others.  The meta-cognition (thinking about one's thinking) around how you present and process in the world and how others do, is helpful in relationships - personal and business.
There are four basic quadrants and they are colour coded.  Of course you can be a combination but you will always have a dominant or preferred default.  And you will have one that you do not do well at all.  When you have to deal with that quadrant be it a person who presents it or a circumstance, you will exhibit some form of avoidance or aggression - passive or active as a reaction.  
Blue  - realist/analyst                                                 Yellow - strategist/imaginer
Green - preserver/organizer                                       Red - socialiser/empathizer
I found some real "AHA" moments during the interview - especially with my own pattern of avoidance with certain details.  I mean I am an intelligent person - and usually can handle detail with ease in most areas but in one particular area - it was like I couldn't even read the details.
He explained the reaction really well and I feel much better knowing that it is a totally understandable reaction and that other people react in their own manner when confronted with their own particular brand of "kryptonite".  All supermen and women, after all have their own weaknesses.  The pdf that I found online was awesome and detailed how to shore up those areas that you are weak in.  You can find it at http://www.Herrmansolutions.com  
Enjoy!